HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Huntsville attorney Donna Pate was sworn in this afternoon as a Madison County circuit judge, filling the seat vacated by the retirement of Judge Laura Hamilton.

Pate was appointed by Gov. Robert Bentley to fill Hamilton's unexpired term, which ends in January. Pate is also the only candidate on the March 13 Republican primary ballot for a full six-year term. She has no Democratic opposition.

Pate was sworn in by presiding Circuit Judge Karen Hall. Her longtime friend, and now fellow judge, District Judge Claude Hundley held the Bible. Pate held the same Bible for Hundley when he was sworn in last year.

"This is a well-deserved and much-anticipated moment," Hundley said. "There is no more prepared person."

Pate is a Huntsville native and has been attorney for 28 years. She has been a shareholder in the firm Lanier Ford Shaver & Payne.

Jeremy King, spokesman for Bentley, said the governor is confident in Pate's ability to serve as judge.

"Donna Pate has the qualifications and experience needed for this appointment," King said. "She has support within the community, and she proved to be the clear choice for this position."

Pate addressed the crowd after the swearing-in, noting that her first job was at the courthouse in 1973. She is the daughter of Emmett Sanders, the longtime Madison County license director, and has said she has fond memories of the courthouse.

Pate said that her father would bring his family with him when he would come to the courthouse after hours to catch up on work. Pate said after finishing their homework, she and her brother would race chairs and slide in their socks across the courthouse's smooth floors.

"I want to thank Gov. Bentley for having the confidence in me to give me this job," Pate said. "It is something I've looked forward to for a long time, to be a public servant for my hometown."

Huntsville attorney Daniel Aldridge and Brian Williams, the assistant city attorney and prosecutor for the City of Huntsville, were the other judicial nominees whose names were submitted to Bentley by the Madison County Judicial Commission.